Redtail Rise jade

sorry that she’s so fickle!  I had the inspiration for this tonight, and want to get her set, so am forward dating this the week it would take for them to return

There’s no way she will win this challenge, so feel free to play it out however you see fit <3 and permission to powerplay at any point that feels appropriate

For the second time, Redd approached that familiar border, but this time she held no shame.  She need not apologize for her nature, nor for the reality that had drawn her back despite her intentions to never return.  Perhaps they did not need her.  It did not change that she needed them.

She had also underestimated the task of feeding two.  Alone she might have managed, but over the past weeks, much of what she caught went to @Ruckus.  It still was not enough, but he grew.  She might have done differently, but returning, she knew he would not need to persist on her hindered abilities alone for long.  She accepted no arguments.

Hollow, limping, she still strode across the border with confidence.  If they disapproved then she would meet their teeth.  Better that than to starve alone.  Raising her head, Redd called out a summons, a challenge to @Mulherin should he choose to meet it.  

Wealda had returned.  Determination burned within her despite her weariness, and she stood firm, waiting.  She knew how this would end.  Yet she would force him to prove it regardless, if only to appease her own pride.  

They wanted her to fight;  she would fight.

Although his thoughts sometimes strayed, Cambria remained resolutely faithful to his duties upon the rise. He fancied himself something of a guardian, often patrolling the borders. They were mostly uneventful, perhaps because the rise’s claim was so well-established. Cambria made certain he always refreshed his signature scent in with all the rest.

He didn’t see the two figures approaching the rise, though his leg was in the air when Redd cried out a challenge to Mulherin. Cambria stiffened, his foot dropping back to earth as if it was full of lead. But all four were fleet as he compulsively answered the summons meant for someone else.

He was curious why she’d come back and challenged the leader, though as soon as Cambria spotted her, he looked for her young cohort. Although @Etienne and even Mulherin had preoccupied his thoughts the most lately, he had never stopped worrying about young Ruckus. It was wonderful to see him again.

Beyond that, the yearling was torn. He halted a few dozen yards away from the pair, his stare fixed but his expression giving away nothing. This was Mulherin’s business and Cambria didn’t intend to overstep, even though he was well aware that Redd had walked right past their borders.

His body remained statuesque as Cambria silently willed Mulherin to appear.

skippable! <3

blood star returned, and in her voice was a challenge.

mountain boulder approved of this; he did not know what she would decide. night eye was hale and now helmed their rise.

another was present. the three tuesdayborn children trotted quietly after their father, stopping when he paused.

huntlead stood along snow rain and silently watched the scene arrange itself once more.

Pausing in her hunt, New Snow stood alert as the call rang in the distance. The wilds were a place where such challenges were familiar, and the Rise was no exception. New Snow then abandoned her pursuit and turned to head toward where her wayward daughter had called from. Blood Star had gone well before New Snow could reunite with her the first time, and for all of her frayed nerves with the sickness the Caru had determined that the risk was worth it if it meant seeing Blood Star once more.

It was perhaps the first time that emotion overruled instinct within her, which was what New Snow was ever lead by. Her compass. 

She flanked her mate, nosing her young. Instinct could not completely be ignored, and she was given pause as she sniffed the wind for sickness. New Snow would teach her young caution, even among those familiar, with returning journeymen. But her eyes were soft and warm and glad as she looked upon Blood Star.

It was good that she wished to fight, to return. New Snow had feared more when Blood Star did not wish to, and thought the sickness had indeed found her. But she could see now that Blood Star was filled with the essence of life, and perhaps new meaning.

a voice that should not be here,

a challenge that should not be uttered.

mulherin finds himself dumbfounded at the sound of redd’s voice, a whirlwind of emotions nipping at his heels. 

he’s confused, mainly, and dwells on this as he makes his way  to redd. had she not made her position clear? she was the one who had refused to take wealda, and furthermore shunned them all in the coldness of her departure.

yes—it was that coldness that turned him beyond bitter.

there might have been a place for her here on the rise once more, and mulherin unwittingly found himself to be sympathetic to the idea of reuniting with kin, but what he could not ignore was flagrant disrespect, paired with something even worse, a sense of entitlement. unlike avicus, she had not built the rise—wealda would never be hers in the way it was her mother’s.

still—redd and he were two sides of the same coin, yet he felt there was something inextricably different between them. a disconnect, or maybe they had never built the connection in the first place. both were avoidant in their respective ways.

she would have never even called him if he hadn’t seized wealda.

and maybe, all along, he sought to replace masquerade in a way redd would never live up to.

his hackles are on end and his teeth are gritted as he approaches the scene. few precede him; cambria, new snow, mountain boulder, and he acknowledges them with a low woof, but his sights are set on redd alone.

and he lets his vexation show in a snide lift of his lip, a growl gurgling from within him.

his sympathy manifests itself in a moment’s pause; he would let her make the first move, 

and if not, 

in a heartbeat he’d be at her throat.

Others approached but she was not here for them just yet.  Her attention was on one yet to come.  And when he appeared, his anger was apparent.  Her own rose to greet it, thrilled at being allowed a measure of freedom.

Punished for her protection of the pack.  Cast down in her first moment of weakness, overthrown because she could not physically defend herself.  She had known it was the most likely possibility.  Yet she had dared hope for better.  

Redd allowed that righteous anger to drive her forward, lunging for his scruff and aiming to pull him sideways.  There was no announcement, no welcome, no warm greeting between siblings.  He had given her no consideration before.  He would earn none now.

He would prove himself. She was weak.  It had been months since she had eaten well and infection still burned beneath half-healed scars.  What little energy she had would fade quickly.  She burned it all in one final attempt to prove she had ever deserved what she held.

hoping its okay to skip everyone—please let me know if anyone wants to post before me <3

redd looked bedraggled, weaker than he remembered her being. if he hadn’t known better, he would’ve assumed she’d gone mad.

and so, he is relieved when she lunges first, as it spared him from appearing completely heartless. this could be justified as self-defense now.

the returner’s fangs find purchase in the side of his scruff. he reels, swiping at her face and writhing away.

he doubles back, then lunges fiercely for the leg she limped on.

since this is a challenge, feels worthwhile to play the fight since only they are participating.  And since it really isn’t gonna be a long one XD.  I’ll pause after this round so people have a chance to respond

He shoved her aside and she stumbled, losing her balance a moment.  This moment left her vulnerable, but even without it, it was unlikely she would have been quick enough to avoid what came next.

His teeth found their mark in her leg.  The pain was instantaneous.  Redd let out a choked sound as she rounded on him, snapping at whatever she could reach while simultaneously trying to wrench herself free.  Every movement buried the pain deeper, a fire spreading through the injured limb.  She still twisted desperately in his grip.

He glanced sideways to acknowledge the arrival of Ulfhedinn, his mate and their children. Cambria’s gaze did not move from Redd again after that until he finally heard Mulherin’s footfalls, by now familiar to the Dragonling.

All it took was a quick assessment of the new Wealda’s expression and posture to understand he did not take kindly to this challenge. Cambria immediately stiffened, the stare he gave Redd turning into more of a glare.

They went at another with such swift savagery, it genuinely startled him. Cambria immediately looked for Ruckus and even the other pups. Should they be here to witness such brutality? Mulherin had once told him this was normal, though as the fight inevitably recaptured his attention, he suddenly doubted.

He took a step backward, eyes never leaving the brother and sister as they readily tore one another apart over a title. Treow wasn’t here, though even her stoicism wouldn’t have reassured Cambria this time. He didn’t bother looking to the others to gauge their reactions.

Perhaps sparring was normal among wolves who sought to establish hierarchy but this—this bloodshed—was something else.

skippable!

Ruckus hid themselves away from the others, only their eyes peeking out through a small hole in the bush where they took cover. Redd went after Mulherin, and Mulherin went after Redd. The child's eyes darted between the two, their heart racing as they watched the brutal display unfold. They were not sure what would happen in the event of Redd's death—or even in the event that she won this challenge—but they knew it was an important moment.

Whatever the outcome, they would be here to witness it with steady, lilac eyes.

redd did not yield.

his grip grows fiercer and fiercer, the writhing only makes the damage worse for her. at this cost, she manages to break free.

mulherin doubles back to separate himself, beginning to carefully encircle her in search of a blind spot if she did not lunge for him once more.

She broke free, but not without cost.  Her balance was off and her strength was fading.  This was not a challenge she could win.

There was a strange mixture of grief and of shame, realizing this.  It wasn’t them she was upset with.  It was herself.  She had failed them entirely, and the proof of it was laid bare in her first approach.  She had only needed this confirmation because she hadn’t been willing to accept it.

It was never hers to claim in the first place.

Redd collapsed down to the ground and remained there as the fight left her completely.  She would not lift her eyes to look at any of them, nor would she attempt to push this further.  She could not even if she had wished it.

It was done.  There was a new Wealda.  She did not know where this left her and, in this moment, found she could not care.  She would accept whatever came.  

She was theirs but they were no longer hers.  She felt the loss like a knife.

I know MB’s skippable and NS has dropped, so I’m hoping I’m not posting out of turn—but if I am, please just let me know so I can remove this!

The fight felt as if it went on for ages, though Cambria supposed it was over within minutes. Mulherin doubled down on his claim as the pack’s Alpha, leaving Redd with no choice but to capitulate. Although he felt closer to the current Wealda than the former one, the Dragonling felt ambivalent about the outcome.

Did the end justify the means? It was a question he would process over the coming days, particularly on his long, routine patrols around the mount they called home.

the watching went on.

blood star fought. night eye prevailed.

she submitted. she gave to her brother what he had earned.

and when it seemed no more enmity might come, huntlead tilted heavy head and sang out. wealda.

wealda stood before them again.